Vapor burner



July 24, 1923. 1,463,101

0. l. STRAUB ET AL VAPOR BURNER Filed May 1, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 z J'Lg.1.

and

July 24, 1923. 1,463,101

0. 1. STRAUB ET AL VAPOR BURNER Filed May 1. 1922 2 Shee ts-Sheet 2 MW I) 2&4

4k 2a Z Patented July 24, 1923.

UNITED STATE 5.

iata ei r ATENT I FEE-CE,

OSCAR I. STRAUIB, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, AND FREDERICK G; WA'HL, OF DETROIT,

MTCI-IIGA N; SAI D WAHL AS SIGN OR TO SAID STBA UB.

VAPOR BURNER.

7 Application filed May 1,

Detroit, in the counties of Erie and lVayne and States of. New York and Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vapor Burners; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others'skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in vapor burners and has for .an ob ,ject to provide an improved burner constructed of few and simple parts that will lend itself to economical manufacture and to accessibility for purposes of cleaning, in which a more thorough distillation of the fuel oil will be had and akinore perfect re- :sulting combustion at the burner.

The present invention aims to correct and overcome difficulties, obstacles and inconveniences experienced with vapor burnerslas. heretofore constructed, particularly in the matter of securinga more perfect ,combustion, avoiding unpleasant odors'and loss of heat which occurs because of seepage of the fuel oil through the retort.

Other objects of the invention are to provide ease in the cleaning of the burner orifice andtherenderingof this orifice adjustable, to render the manipulating means for the cleaner. valve at all times cool and at a point-remote from the burner, and to permit of the inverting of the parts to secure a thorough cleaning of the interior of the retort and its cooperating parts.

With the foregoing and other objects, .in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more par ticularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto. g

'In the; drawings, wherein like symbols refer tolik'e or corresponding parts throughout the several views, f j

Fig. 1 is a Sideelevation ofa stove with. parts broken awayshowing an application of the improvedvapor burner when in place therein, I I H 1 Fig. '2 is a vertical sectional view of the u e I Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same;

1922. Serial- No. 557,522.

Fig. 4 is :a horizontal section taken ,on the line 44 in Fig. 2; i

Fig. 5 isa vertical section taken on the line 5-.- 5 also in Fig. 2;

.Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the burner retort with the parts inverted for cleaning; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the heating ring arrangement r v Fig. -8 is a similar View showing aslight modification; Fig. 9 shows a vertical section ofa modified'pipe arrangement for the fuel oil; and,

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 4 show- I inoa slight modification. eferrrng more particularly to the drawings, 1 in general designates a stove whose top is composed of top and bottom plates, 2

and 3 respectively being spaced apart to I provide aheat receiving alndldiflusing cha nber 4: therebetween =-with outlets at, the cor- .ners whereby a single burner, centrally {located, as indicatedin Fig- 1,:may ,suilice. to

heat the entire top plate 12 of the'stove and j as many receptacles, usually 4 as the, stove accommodates. The lower plate 3 ,is provided with a central opening up through which the flame from the burner is intended to issue. The burnerreceivesits supply of oil through pipes 5 and 6 from a tank" or reservoir 7 held at the side of the stove on adjacent thereto. The oil tank is. put under a suitable pressure as by ajhand'air pump I8 and the fuel is driven out into the lower open end of the pipe 6 which, extends ilown near the'base ofthe tank. A relief valve 9 .is also .placed upon the tank for the purpose of removing the pressure by allowing the air to escape when thebnrner is to be extinguished,

or for reducing the pressure to lower the size of flame. the useful applications-of the improved burner; the scope of the invention is not intended to include the stove. The, fuel tank may be at the side, rear or bottom of the stove.- p

; The improved burner, asrmore-particularly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, comprises a retort 10 Fig. 1 simply illustrates one of which is generally cylindrical although it may be :made in other desired cross sections,

and from this retort a" number of spider arms 11 diverge upwardly, carrying at their outer ends a'base ring '12 for the support of a topheating ring .13 which isacarri'ed thereon attached, or in separate piece, as by an appropriate number of pellets 14 of a suit able metal. These pellets are of a desired height to secure a spacing of the heating ring- 13 above the base ring 12 to allow of the flame issuing through the burner perforations 15 to get beneath and entirely around the heating ring 13.

' The perforations 15 are provided about the marginal edge of a mixing chamber 16, provided between the spaced top and-bottom plates 17 and 18. These plates are separate,

I or are suitably joined together at their edges,

the upper edge being suitably dished or cupped as indicated and a shoulder or depressed shelf 19 is provided about the inner I sideof the base ringor upon the spider arms ll'to receive the lower'edge' of these plates. The lower plate 18 contains a central opening 20 of a suitablejdiameter to'receive the commingled air and vaporized fuel oil;

the latter issues upwardlythrough a perforated cap 21 in the top of the retort. This cap 21 is preferably screw threaded into the 5 upper closed end of a liner cylinder 22 that fits within the retort 10 and has an open bottom resting upon a compressible gasket "23 that lies upon a shelf 24 within the retort. The flangednut 25 is threaded in the upper end of the retort 10 and engages about the reduced upper portion of the'liner cylinder 22 and upon a shoulder 26 formed by "this reduction in the diameter of the liner cylinder. The flange of the nut 25 is provided with suitable wrench engaging faces. The interior wall of the liner cylinder 22 of circular, hexagonal, or other cross-section.

Within the liner 22 is a plunger 28 which" is adapted to slide up and down vertically therein. When the inner cross-section of the liner cylinder 22 and the outer crosssection of the plunger 28 are complementaryyvertically elongated slots 27' are provided in one or the other, but. preferably on the inner wall of the liner. cylinder, as at 27. When they are not complementary, as for instance when the inner cross-section of the liner cylinder is circular, and the outer cross-section of the plunger is hexagonal, no such slots are necessary (see F1g.'10). i

The lower reduced portion of the plunger is provided with an annular recess 29 in which engages an eccentric pin 30 carried by a disk orhead 31 upon the inner end of a long rod 32 which extends entirely through thepipe 5 to the exterior of the stove and.

.is bent exteriorly of the pipe into a crank handle 33 to render the turning of the rod convenient. The remotenessof the handle I 33 from the burner and its location entirely without" the stove enables it to be kept cool at all times. i

The rod 32 extends through a T-head 3&

which couples with the pipe 6' and also carries a stuffing box 35 to avoid leakage of the oil about the rod 32. The rod 32 further more extends through asleeve 36 carriedat the inner end of the pipe 5 and being formed with suitable slots3'r with the spaced apart legs 38 to engage the innenwall of the pipe while at the same time not interfering with i retort 10.

The sleeve 36 may be fitted slidably in the pipe so that it is withdrawnby engagement of the head 31 therewith when the rod 32 is pulled axially. "A collar-stop 39 upon the rod 32 engages the other end of the sleeve 36'and' keeps the sleeve in place. 7

In Fig. 7., we have shown aslight modification in which the heating ring 13 is'ca-r ried upon pellets 14: of metal or other suitable material which rest'not directly upon the base ring 12 but upon a relatively small rectly upwardly through a stuffing box 43 and having engagement directlywith the 'open base of the retort as at 4:4, in this case the" upper portion of the pipe l2 being widened when necessary, as in the smaller sized vapor-burners, to accommodate the device for reciprocating the. plunger: 28; the

enlarged upper portionof the pipel2 may receive the pipe 16 which in this instance receives no fuelbut forms'merely a housing for the operating rod 32; The supporting sleeve 36 may be made solid as there is no the free flow of oil from the tank 7 to the be formed with a'thr'eaded extension 45- to requirement for slots therein." A" similar re sult can be attained bydispensing with the T head 34c, and pipe 6,"but having pipe 4E2, without enlarged upper end, fitted into a suitable hole drilled into the central part of the bottom ofthe retort 10. (See Fig. 2).

In bothinstances the plunger 28fcarries a removable Valve pin. base"47 having a cleaner pin 4. 8 projecting upwardly therefromv in position to pass through theorifice.

in the cap 21. The basefl47- is preferably screw threaded into the plunger to enable the removal and replacement when'the burner wire or cleaner pin becomes worn or broken.

In the embodimentv shown in the spider arms 11 are directly supported upon and in fact are shown in one piece with the retort wall, but in Fig. 9 a separate ring 49 is provided.tosurroun'd the =retort--and .--to carry the inner convergent ends oft-he arms. This ring 'isclosely fitted about :the retort wall and conducts'the heat thereto.

In the use of the device, suitable f-uelwoil or distillate is placed in the tank or reservoir 7 and .a pressure created by use of the hand pump 8. A relatively small pressure of a few'pounds will suflice toraise the oil through the pipes 6 and 5 to {the retort 10. The vapor is started by applying a flame, for instance from an alcohol torch, to the outside of the retort wall in order to initially volatilize the oil, and ca use' the resulting gases to collect in the liner 22 and issue through the cap '21. i

The vapor will take the path indicated in Fig. 2, drawing in air at the sides between the spider arms 11, and the "commingledvapor and air will pass up throughthe opening 20 into the mixing chamber 16 Where a thorough intermingli ng will occur prior to issuance through the perforations 15. The vaporized fuel is ignited as itissues through the perforations 15 and it will entirely envelop the heating ring 13, passing not only at the side and. above the ring but also beneath it and to the outside by virtue of the fact that the ring is supported only at in tervals by the small pellets 14. The result is that the ring is raised to at least a red heat and it transfers this heat downwardly to the base ring 12 and to the spider arms 11 by which the heat is conducted to the wall of the retort 10. The high conductivity of the metal will cause the heat to be transferred tothe liner cylinder 22 and to the fuel inside the retort. The size of the flame can be regulated (l) by varying the pressure in the tank, which causes a proportional, varying of pressure at the orifice in the cap 21; or (2) by varying the position of the pin 48, whereby the orifice opening is increased or decreased. In the case of large burners, a hand valve can be inserted in the pipe 6, or pipe 42, to get a further means of regulating the flow offuel oil, and

the resulting flow of vapor.

The plunger 28 will also become heated and this is preferably of arelatively great mass in. order that it may take and absorb quantities of heat which in turn it gives off to the fuel. It will thus be appreciated that the fuel passing-up through the relatively narrow slots 27 in minute isolated streams will be subjected to a substantially uniform heat on all sides which will not raise its temperature to such an extent asto cause destructive distillation, but at the same time will require the heat. to thoroughly perme-' ate the oil mass and to thus thoroughly and uniformly vaporize it. A very complete combustion without appreciable residue is for this reasonsecured in the burner.

The pin 48 is in the nature of a needle valve "andmi'ay with advantagefbe snbstan tially conical. This wire is raisedorj-loww ered together with the Tplungerby action of the crank handle '33. There will 1.be a;tsuit able amount of friction between the various parts to enable the plunger Ito-remain .i-nthe I adjusted position and-shouldthe orifice in the cap .21tend to become;.-clogged, .a few turns of the handle 33 will cause several irelciprocations of the pin 4'8 such as will) effect: a thorough cleaning of the port.

It will be-noted lihLtzllO leakagec'an occur at the base of the :retort and that a tight joint is provided vby thev gasket QSavhich is compressedbyxaotion of the flanged nut 25. Any seepage that occurs will'har-e tobe upwardly about the nut 25and i'tavill necessarily be in the form ofvap or whichv will be sucke'dup into the burner andzwi'll l'lOlllfiQ'W be volatilized and pass up with the other vaporized fuel to be completely ignited in the burner. 1

The liner cylinder 22 is susceptible of be-' ing inverted as shown in Fig. 6. This is accomplished by removing the flanged nut 25, lifting out the cylinder 22 and replacing it with or without the plunger 28, after it is inverted. The shoulder 26 will fit upon thegasket 23 and the nut 25 may or may not be replaced; v The. liner cylinder in its invertedpo-sition is such as to carry a. suit-v able quantity of alcohol for cleaning purposesand the orifice in the cap 21 will be carried in such a way that the pin 48 may permit of the escape of alcohol in desired quantities into the base of the retort; all thisalcohol may be burned therein to consume I the carbon and other deposits. Substantially the same cleaning action is had in the device according to Fig. 9.

The parts of the device are few and the construction and. arrangement extremely simple but. at the same time a high effective heat is secured from very complete combustionin the burner this latter being due to-a very thorough vaporization of the fuel oil in the retort. Excellent results are also secured by the fact that the inside portion of the burner may at all times be kept clean and the orifice in the-cap may be easily kept free from foreign matter at all times by the simple expedient of turn'ing the handle 33 occasionally. Caps 21 with orifices of various sizeswill be provided in suitable numbers so that any desired flow of the fuel may be had and if found necessary pins of a size to correspond may be provided, they being replacedv by the removable nature of the base l'f. I The vapor-burner. has been shown herein as applied to cooking-stoves. j The same naces, boilers and tl 1el'ike-. -,It '1S- 0bV101lS that various changes and burner, 'Withwslight' modifications can; be used With heaters, hot-water apparatus, furmodifications may be made in the 'details of construction. and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this inven- 'tion without departing from the spirit there'- of,isuch changes and modifications being re stricted. onlyby the .scope of the following claims. i 1 I I Whatis claimed is 5,1. A .vaporburner. comprising a retort, .supporting arms thereon, a base ,ring carried by the arms, a heating ring-above the basering, spaced supportsfor-holding the heating ringe up'onthe base ring, and a burner structure adapted to direct a flame against both sides and the top we bottom of the heating ring, substantially as described.

2. A vvapor burner comprising :aburner structure a sretort, heatingmeans at .the a orifice, substantially asdescribed.-

burner extending 'to *the-vretort, -means to place the lower partbf the retort in communication With a-so'urce of liquid fuel supply under pressure, a liner having a closed and having ;a pin fitting -slidably 3. VA vapor burner comprising a burner structure, a retort; means heated by the burner to' convey such heat to. the retort, an

invertible liner in the qretort having an orifice for thee'scape of vaporized fuel from the retort and slot in its all, and a movable plunger of relatively great mass in'the liner J having apin to projectin'to-the orifice, substantially as described. a i OSCARLSTRAUBQ' FREDERICK G. -WAHL. 

